A rare brown hyena roaming alone in an abandoned ghost town in Namibia has won South African photographer Wim van den Heever the prestigious Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2025 competition.
The competition organized by the Natural History Museum in London awards the most impressive and creative nature photographs from around the world every year. This year’s jury reviewed a record 60,000 entries from 113 countries before selecting Van den Heever’s Ghost Town Visitor, which was ten years in the making.
The photo shows a brown hyena roaming the abandoned diamond mining town of Kolmanskop, where sand and wind have long replaced humans. The photo, taken with the help of a camera trap, reflects the atmosphere of loneliness and reminds us of how nature is slowly taking back areas that once belonged to humans.
“How appropriate that this photo was taken in a ghost town,” said jury president Katie Moran. “When you look at this picture, you become uneasy and realize that you are in the kingdom of hyenas.” Juror Akanksha Sood Singh added that the work “eerily juxtaposes wilderness with the ruins of human civilization” and tells the story of “nature’s loss, resilience and quiet triumph”.
In addition to Van den Heever, the work of 17-year-old Italian Andrea Dominici, who was named Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year, particularly attracted the jury’s attention. The After Destruction image, showing a longhorned beetle sitting atop old logging equipment, was a reminder of the consequences of deforestation.
The exhibition featuring the winners of the competition will open today at the Natural History Museum in London and will then go on a world tour. All 100 of the best works, chosen by experts, can be viewed as part of the 61st season of the planet’s natural photography competition.
Meanwhile, 56 thousand pet models had previously participated in the four-legged animal competition called Dogue. See the winners here.
Source: People Talk
Mary Crossley is an author at “The Fashion Vibes”. She is a seasoned journalist who is dedicated to delivering the latest news to her readers. With a keen sense of what’s important, Mary covers a wide range of topics, from politics to lifestyle and everything in between.
